The Oklahoma City Thunder gave fans a thriller on Sunday night at the Paycom Center as they came back from a 23-point deficit midway through the third quarter to pull out a 135-127 victory in double overtime. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tied a career-high 14 assists as the Thunder dished out 40 as a team, and despite Toronto’s sharp-shooting early, it was OKC who tied a franchise record with 23 made threes.
After a brutal January schedule, the Thunder gets a bit of relief as they play 4 games in the next 8 days before getting some recovery time at the All-Star Break. OKC has been relatively healthy all season long, but they put a lengthy injury report ahead of Tuesday’s matchup with the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.
While most of the injuries appear to be relatively minor, it could be that Sam Presti is looking to make a move ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. On the bright side, Jalen Williams is listed as questionable for the first time since being ruled out after spraining his right ankle a little over a week ago against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Jazz have won 9 of their last 14, but OKC holds a 2-0 edge over Utah in the season series thus far. The Thunder are going to have to slow down Lauri Markannen, but if they can keep him from going crazy, they should be able to get out of town with a win while maintaining their top spot in the Western Conference standings.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Jazz
- PG: Kris Dunn
- SG: Collin Sexton
- SF: Simone Fontecchio
- PF: Lauri Markkanen
- C: John Collins
Injury Report
Thunder
- Davis Bertans is QUESTIONABLE (right knee soreness).
- Ousmane Dieng is QUESTIONABLE (strained left hip).
- Isaiah Joe is OUT (sternum contusion).
- Keyontae John is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Vasilije Micic is QUESTIONABLE (sprained right ankle).
- Olivier Sarr is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Cason Wallace is QUESTIONABLE (sprained right shoulder).
- Lindy Waters III is QUESTIONABLE (strained left ankle).
- Jalen Williams is QUESTIONABLE (sprained right ankle).
- Jaylin Williams is QUESTIONABLE (left achilles tendinitis).
Jazz
- Taylor Hendricks is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Johnny Juzang is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Micah Potter is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Jason Preston is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Brice Sensabaugh is OUT (G League — on assignment).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 37-20 (23-6 at home, 14-14 on the road) against the Jazz in the regular season and 2-4 (2-1 at home, 0-3 on the road) in the playoffs.
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Jazz 12 times, lost it twice, and tied once.
- The Thunder went 3-1 against the Jazz last season (2-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- The Thunder is 1-0 against the Jazz so far this season (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).